September 2022
Nougat 11
Do you believe that God can speak to anyone, including you? Has God ever spoken to you? Today’s Holy Nougat
“Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”” 1 Samuel 3:7, 10 NLT
Although we are all inclined to spirituality in some way, shape or form; not every person can say that s/he has had a direct conversation with God. In fact I suspect that even among us believers, there are some of us who would rather assume that Samuel’s experience was more of a fairytale or a bedtime story. Samuel might have thought so too, had it not happened to him.
We note that the narrator prefaced the incident-experience with the qualifier that Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. And the first verse
categorically states that in those days (of Samuel) messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. So this was not a common occurrence for Samuel from birth, despite him being dedicated to God from the womb (see chapter 1:11; and 2:11 for Hannah’s vow and fulfillment).
We can affirm that Eli was blessed with at least one prophetic experience (see chapter 1:17-20); but Eli was a direct descendant of Aaron. The Levites were God’s specially selected priests, who ministered in the temple. Samuel was an Ephraimite, which was a half tribe from the lineage of Joseph. And though the gift of the prophetic was clearly upon Joseph, there’s little word to suggest that it had been hereditary prior to Samuel.
I make the clarification so that we might note that Samuel would not have been raised with the knowledge or expectations of hearing God’s voice directly. Yet he was clearly hearing from God in the nougat. If God spoke to Samuel, a youth who’d never heard God speak nor experienced the prophetic, God can also speak directly to you. And you might not have had such a dramatic dedication of your life; but it does not mean that God’s Spirit can’t minister through your life.
It may be that the call on your life is more glamorous or visible than your mentor’s; if so, go with God’s Spirit and grace. Who knows? God might allow your mentor to speak the new dispensation and direction over your life. If that’s the case; receive the blessings and learn what you can until God says it’s time to ‘go solo’.
God’s not allergic to speaking to us, gifting us or elevating us. It may be that it’s time for us to listen and act.
God bless you
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May all we seek be found in Christ